[Asrg] What are your criteria for the end of spam?

> If you know of an anti-spam email system that will block any advertising
> UNLESS the advertisers pay MY price for MY time, then please tell me about
> it. I'll sign up and consider my spam problem solved.

That appeared in the ASRG a few days ago, and though the economic aspects
have been receiving more serious consideration recently, that particular
comment didn't get much consideration, but the more I think about it, the
more it "strikes a chord" in my thinking. I hope that most of us are willing
to agree that advertising is a legitimate business activity. The advertisers
are going to look for any channel that will effectively reach potential
customers, but there is a problematic tradeoff involved here. Some points
for consideration:

1) We want to be informed of the best values.
2) We don't want to give up our privacy.
3) Companies compete to create the best values.
4) Email could help customers find the best values.

Number 4) seems to be a theoretical point, but right now you have to admit
that broadcast advertising is a very inefficient advertising mechanism. At
any given time, I'm really only interested in purchasing a few things, and
right now finding the best value is a very tedious process. It is quite
possible that I will see a broadcast ad for just what I want at the best
price available. Yet given the essentially random nature of a broadcast ad,
how would I know that was the one? Actually, I'd kind of like to receive
specific and detailed email from each of the companies with good candidates,
explaining exactly why their product and their price was the best match for
my real needs.

Then again, a lot of advertising is intended to create needs where none
exist, and I definitely do NOT want to receive that advertising. Hmmm...

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